Below is my column in The Hill Newspaper on the dangers posed by Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort after the filings last week in federal court.
Here is the column:
“Was you ever bit by a dead bee?” A drunken sailor asks that curious question of actress Lauren Bacall in the 1944 classic movie, “To Have and Have Not.” This week, President Trump can claim two legal stings from dead bees, in the familiar forms of Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort. Indeed, the two late Friday court filings by special counsel Robert Mueller and one by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York are very detailed accounts of how to get stung by dead bees.
First and foremost, you have to step on them. With both Cohen and Manafort, the Trump legal team could face serious complications after actively seeking out close and ongoing relationships when it should have been cutting both men a wide berth. That does not mean these filings will send the president into legal anaphylactic shock. Yet, once again, the greatest threats facing Trump may be due to missteps in response to the special counsel investigation, as opposed to the original allegations.
Soon after the release of the filings, Trump posted a tweet declaring, “Totally clears the president. Thank you!” There were very few others who shared his enthusiasm, however, since the accusations directed against Trump, who is referred to as “Individual 1” in the filings, are about as vindicating as an indictment would be liberating. Nevertheless, there are three positive elements for the president in this latest development.
First, while prosecutors reveal additional alleged Russian contacts, and even an offer to create some “campaign political synergy,” there is a conspicuous absence of evidence of an alleged conspiracy or collusion by the campaign. As in the case of the Trump Tower meeting between Russian representatives and Trump campaign officials, these limited queries and contacts seemed to go nowhere. Indeed, Cohen apparently did not even follow up on an offer to meet with one Russian official promising political help. Second, the vast majority of false statements and criminal allegations concern the ample criminal conduct of Cohen and Manafort, all of which are unrelated to Trump or the 2016 campaign.
Third, and most importantly, prosecutors are seeking significant prison sentences for both Cohen and Manafort because both men failed to cooperate to the extent that prosecutors demanded. Since they each spoke extensively with prosecutors, they clearly were unwilling or unable to give Mueller what he demanded in exchange for sentencing reductions. After a long series of filings, the special counsel has given detailed accounts of plenty of suspicious characters, but he still shows no clear collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
That brings us to the unappreciated danger of dead bees. Many observers long warned that Cohen and Manafort represented serious unnecessary risks. All that was needed was to back away from them. Instead, Trump and his advisers stepped on both. Cohen has been a dead bee since the nondisclosure agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels was disclosed. Trump, however, ignored advice to sever connections and instead reaffirmed that Cohen remained his personal lawyer. Cohen then turned on his former boss, deciding to cooperate without a formal agreement with prosecutors. It did not turn out as he hoped. New York prosecutors virtually mocked his “sympathetic family history” and belated cooperation in search of leniency. They rejected notions that Cohen is a “hero” and said he made the “affirmative decision” not to be a cooperative witness.
Most of the new information in the filings concerns the multiple criminal acts that Cohen committed in defrauding banks, evading taxes, and lying to an array of people on an array of subjects. However, one allegation is a direct sting to Trump. Prosecutors state that Cohen committed criminal campaign finance violations “by orchestrating secret and illegal payments to silence two women” and assist the Trump campaign. The filings describe how the payments “sought to influence the election from the shadows” as decent Americans “knocked on doors, toiled at phone banks, or found any number of other legal ways to make their voices heard.”
That could be dismissed as purple prose, but the Justice Department expressly declares this crime against democracy was carried out “in coordination with and at the direction of” Trump. This stands as a clear accusation in a federal document of a crime committed at his ordering. Last year, I wrote that the payments to these women could be charged but would be difficult to prove. The real sting, however, is what follows. Prosecutors describe Cohen dealing with the White House before he lied to Congress and the public. He also allegedly made false statements to investigators. In continuing to coordinate and communicate with Cohen, the White House implicated itself in his long pattern of deception.
This creates the risk of an alternative theory of obstruction of justice. While the allegations surrounding the firing of former FBI director James Comey have always been anemic, this would be an effort to undermine an active federal investigation through alleged acts of subornation and witness tampering, an effort to conceal this crime that could prove the more serious offense. In other words, by pulling Cohen deeper into the fold, the Trump legal team stepped on a dead bee.
Manafort was dead as John Dillinger the minute he was indicted. He was a one man criminal conglomerate who was neither clever nor careful. Much like Cohen, blind greed left him little in terms of a viable defense. All the White House had to do was step around him. Instead, the Trump legal team reportedly continued to meet with counsel for Manafort under a joint defense agreement. As a cooperating witness facing sentencing, it was highly unusual and problematic to share information with the Trump legal team on what the special counsel revealed in confidential meetings.
The filings, however, go further and state that earlier this year, Manafort communicated directly and indirectly with Trump administration officials, including a “senior” official. If Mueller believes Manafort was coordinating his withholding of information or lack of cooperation, then it could be construed as the same range of collateral crimes from obstruction, to subornation to witness tampering, suggested by the Cohen filings.
Moreover, since there is a crime fraud exception to attorney client privilege, this allegation could lead to losing confidentiality over these meetings and force lawyers for Trump to take the stand to answer the allegations. It gives Mueller a line of attack that he did not have based on the original allegations. This is exactly how you can be stung by dead bees. Or as the drunken sailor explained to Lauren Bacall in the movie, “You know, you got to be careful of dead bees if you are going around barefooted, cause if you step on them they can sting you just as bad as if they was alive, especially if they was kind of mad when they got killed.”
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanTurley
Marker.
Professor Turley, this is an intriguing contrivance but the bad guys are getting away.
__________________________________________________________________
Peter Strzok to Lisa Page, “We’ll stop it.”
Lisa Page to Peter Strzok, “POTUS wants to know everything we’re doing.”
Lisa Page to Congress, “The texts mean what the texts say.”
________________________________________________
CONCLUSION: Obama, Obama holdovers, the FBI, CIA, “DEEP STATE” et al. will destroy President Trump.
________________________________________________
The co-conspirators in the most prodigious scandal in American political history, the Obama Coup D’etat in America:
Sessions, Rosenstein, Mueller/Team, Comey, McCabe, Strozk, Page, Kadzic, Yates, Baker, Bruce Ohr, Nellie Ohr, Priestap, Kortan, Campbell, Steele, Simpson, Joseph Mifsud, Stefan “The Walrus” Halper, Kerry, Hillary, Huma, Mills, Brennan, Clapper, Farkas, Power, Lynch, Rice, Jarrett, Obama et al.
TRUMP IN TELEVISED MEETING:
“I WILL SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT”
Trump and Vice President Pence met with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to discuss funding for Trump’s border wall as the White House press corps recorded. Captured on video was an extraordinary argument in which Trump admitted that he will, indeed, shut down the government if Congress doesn’t give him $5 billion in border wall funding.
As the meeting drew to a close, a member of the press corps asked Trump about the looming vacancy for White House Chief of Staff. Question pertains to former general John Kelly who will be vacating in 2 weeks. Trump essentially fired Kelly with the belief that Vice President Pence’s chief would take the position. But Nick Ayers plans to move out of Washington. His rejection leaves Trump with only Kelly for now. But in this meeting Trump had difficulty acknowledging the lurch he is in.
The final minutes of the meeting are as follow:
PELOSI: So let us have a conversation where we don’t have to contradict in public the statistics that you put forth, but instead can have a conversation about what will really work, and what the American people deserve from us at this uncertain time in their lives.
SCHUMER: One thing I think we can agree on is we shouldn’t shut down the government over a dispute. And you want to shut it down. You keep talking about.
TRUMP: I — no, no, no, no, the last time, Chuck, you shut it down.
SCHUMER: No, no, no.
TRUMP: Twenty times.
SCHUMER: Twenty times — twenty times, you were called for I will shut down the government if I don’t get my wall. None of us has said…
TRUMP: You want to know something?
SCHUMER: You said it.
TRUMP: OK, you want to put that (inaudible).
SCHUMER: You’ve said it.
TRUMP: You know what I’ll say? Yes. If we don’t get what we want one way or the other, whether it’s through you, through a military, through anything you want to call, I will shut down the government, absolutely.
SCHUMER: OK, fair enough. We disagree. We disagree.
TRUMP: And I’ll tell you what, I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck, because the people of this country don’t want criminals and people that have lots of problems, and drugs pouring into our country. So I will take the mantle. I will be the to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it. The last time you shut it down it didn’t work. I will take the mantle of shutting down, and I’m going to shut it down for border security.
SCHUMER: But we believe you shouldn’t shut it down.
TRUMP: Thank you very much, everybody.
CROSSTALK
TRUMP: Thank you.
CROSSTALK
TRUMP: We have a lot of great people for chief of staff. A lot of people want the job. A lot of people want the job. (Inaudible) a lot of friends of mine want it. A lot of people that Chuck and Nancy know very well want it. I think people you’d like. We have a lot of people that want the job of chief of staff. So we’ll be seeing what happens very soon. We’re in no rush. We’re in no rush.
QUESTION: Why no rush. Mr. President?
TRUMP: Why, because we have a wonderful chief of staff right now. There’s no — we are in no rush. Over a period of a week or two, or maybe less, we’ll announce who it’s going to be, but we have a lot of people that want the position.
Thank you very much, everybody.
THE ABOVE is from an Oval Office meeting this morning.
Transcript from THE WASHINGTON POST.
The important statements from the video:
Trump: “This is a national emergency. Drugs are pouring into our country. People with medical difficulty and medical problems are pouring in…” These are the issues along with crime and costs involving education of the children of illegals, healthcare, Medicaid etc.
We are talking about illegal immigration where ten years ago Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi were talking about the same problem advocating stopping illegals from enterring the country. Remeber Caesar Chavez? Look him up and see what he said.
Allan, show me an article from mainstream media that terms this issue an “emergency”. Border apprehensions were actually ticking down all through the Obama era (because of the fence built by Clinton and Bush). So what numbers can you find to justify an “emergency” designation?
And wouldn’t that $5 billion be better spent repairing our interstate highways?
Let’s be honest here. There are those that want open immigration so that they can get an ample supply of labor at a lower salary and benefit rate than they can from American workers. They do not care about the American worker or the American family who sees his income remain stagnant. They pay big bucks to politicians to see to it that this cheap forn of labor remains and they have succeeded.
You may not care much for the backbone of this nation or be smart enough to recognize that working families have been severely hurt by these policies but others do. A wall does many things and just one of those things is it makes it easier to control our borders.
You want mainstream media to back up these statements, but what you are really asking for is a select group of relatively unaware people to write about things their publishers (the one’s that pay them) don’t want pubished. Experts in the field have written and discussed these issues but you don’t read in depth rather you read what someone else wishes you to believe.
$5Billion is a relatively small amount of money and the fact is that economically the costs of illegal immigration every year is far higher than the $5Billion or the complete cost of a wall. You wish to say a wall isn’t effective, but when one looks at the recent videos in the Tijihuana area one notes that the wall kept illegals from rushing the border and that is why at one time they tried to take a water route that failed. Yes. There are other ways of intruding on the border that should be stopped as well so we shouldn’t just be considering the $5Billion for the wall but we should be adding to that enforcement of our laws and throwing out students and others who come from countries that consistently violate our laws or our security.
You thought $5Billion was a lot of money and therefore were scared to spend it. The costs of illegals is so much greater than that that your fear alone makes action imperitive and an emergency.
Allan, ‘where’ is your position in terms latitude and longitude? If you’re in NYC area, as mentioned sporadically, you’re significantly closer to Canada than Mexico. New York State borders Quebec and Ontario. For that reason I might defer to ‘you’ if we were discussing the Canadian border.
But I happen to live about 300 miles from the Mexican border. And Mexicans are certainly a presence in L.A. So I’m not sure why I would defer to ‘you’ on the Mexican border.
It seems that my position here, in terms latitude and longitude, would give me a better sense than ‘you’ regarding this border. We want it secure, of course.
Chuck and Nancy actually offered Trump $1.6 billion. That money can used towards a border wall. But Trump says “Five billion or I’m shutting government”.
Peter, what makes you think I have only one home and where does that make a difference? Where one lives doesn’t necessarily mean that one has a better understanding of the problems that exist. We have proof of that. You live closer to the Mexican border than I yet you know so much less.
” New York State borders Quebec and Ontario. For that reason I might defer to ‘you’ if we were discussing the Canadian border.”
If that were the case one could call you pretty stupid.
For 40 years we have talked about border security and a border wall. $5Billion is only about 20-25% of the necessary money but a good start. Chuck and Nancy are playing politics with the lives and well being of the American working class. Maybe that will increase their votes from illegals that might presently be voting. I am sure that people close to them are pushing for illegals to have some voting options as we speak.
Still another viewpoint on the Trump, Pelosi and Schumer live video: ‘can we cut the cameras off’ is what a scared Nancy Pelosi said during the debate that Peter posted only a snippet from. Peter isn’t very deep so he thinks others are stupid enough to fall for his one sided comments that leave out the body of what was said.
‘She’s Scared’ — Ted Cruz Criticizes Pelosi For Wanting To Turn Cameras Off During White House Meeting
Texas Senator Ted Cruz lauded President Trump’s performance during Tuesday’s Oval Office exchange with Democratic leaders.
During Tuesday night’s edition of Fox News’ “Hannity,” Cruz also criticized Rep Nancy Pelosi, calling her stated desire to take the discussion off-camera a result of being “scared” because she’s on the “losing end of the argument.”
Fox News host Sean Hannity began the segment by comparing Cruz’s own 2013 filibuster on healthcare to Trump’s “fighting on borders now.”
“Why don’t we see more of this in the Republican Party?” he asked.
“I think you are exactly right,” Cruz responded. “The American people have for a long time been frustrated with Washington, frustrated that too many elected officials don’t follow through on their promises, and they want us to do what we said we would do.”
Cruz called the president’s Oval Office debate with Democratic leaders “terrific.”
“He was standing up and saying ‘we’re going to keep our promise, we’re gonna secure border, we’re gonna build the wall,’” said Cruz. “And I’ll tell you one of the surest indications on how unhappy the Democrats were in that exchange is over and over again Nancy Pelosi says, ‘can we turn the TV cameras off? We are not supposed to be doing this publicly.’ You can tell they’re on the losing end of the argument when she’s scared that cameras are showing that she and the Democrats are for open borders and the president is fighting to do what the American people want which is secure the border, build the wall and keep our country safe.”
Cruz and Hannity then discussed the often-overstated implications of the partial government shutdown that could occur if no deal is reached.
Still more on the video.
What was the most feared word in the video. Transparency. Pelosi and Schumer hate transparency and kept asking that the cameras be shut off. Why? Because the WP can take snippets to prove anything they want when the cameras are off. This was shown by Peter’s very short transcript that left out how the two Democrats didn’t want the public to know that they were against transparency and against securing the security the American people desire.
“Pelosi, Schumer Ask Trump To Take Talks Away From Cameras — Trump Refuses
2:51 PM 12/11/2018 | US
As Tuesday’s White House talks between President Trump, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer turned into an on-camera debate on border wall funding, it soon became clear that both Democratic politicians would have been much more comfortable having the discussion away from public view.
Talks were going well until Pelosi used the words “Trump shutdown” to describe the government shutdown that could happen if a deal wasn’t reached.”
Cont at. https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/11/pelosi-schumer-trump-cameras/
Plenty more stingers.
It seems that a President can be official condemned for committing marginal irrelevant crimes, but not for being grossly mentally dysfunctional. The decision, however, to press charges relevant to the crimes, is driven by the awareness of his gross mental dysfunction.
Sam:
Give us a rundown of your CV that qualifies you to remotely diagnose mental illness. Stick to the medical ones, please.
Peter Shill isn’t the only Dunning-Kruger exemplar on these boards.
And around …:
My mistake. Looks like an epidemic.
The ‘Dead Bee’ issue is just one of many that color Trump. Just as Clinton wasn’t disgraced for his sexual adventures-everyone knew he was a hopeless horn dog-it will be the lack of spine that stains them. Clinton babbled on about the meaning of a sexual relationship, etc. and looked more and more spineless and foolish each time he put on his legal suit. Trump is doing the same. It is almost undeniable that Trump cheated on his wife, was, and may still be, a megalomanic horn dog. The stain that is etching its way further into that orange tan is that he doesn’t have the spine to tell the world to mind its own business. And; with all his slithering and sliding, Trump is committing the crimes that, hopefully, will get rid of him from public office, where he does not belong. This is just one of the endless reasons why Trump just has to get bounced in 2020.
Isaac: Forget about imagined Trump crimes and instead demand that Dem candidate(s) get some game and go toe-to-toe with Trump in 2020 on real issues instead of the pussy back-door Kangaroo court approach to trying to regain control.
go toe-to-toe with Trump in 2020 on real issues
I agree Bill. Democrats cannot win on issues and that’s why it won’t happen.
Issues? 40 seats in the house 2018.
Except, Olly, Democrats got more votes in 2016 than Trump.
‘Real issues’ like what, Bill? Climate Change?? Infrastructure??? Healthcare???? Trump has no idea what ‘real issues’ are. He only knows what he sees watching “Fox & Friends”.
‘Climate Change’ isn’t a real issue and ‘infrastructure’ is predominantly a responsibility of state and local governments. As for ‘healthcare’, the issue as we speak is that the actuarial pools for the individual market are horribly unstable. Only Congress can address that, and the Democratic caucus is dead set against admitting that they caused the problem. Trump knows this even if you don’t.
Tabby, global corporations see Climate Change as a very real issue. Global Assurance companies, the insurers that insure the insurers, have recognized the climate threat for several years at this point. It will be impacting their business. Guys like you are flat-earthers for denying an issue that is already totally upon us.
Tabby, global corporations see Climate Change as a very real issue.
You gonna tell me the cool kids do too?
The cool kids ain’t Republicans, that’s for goddamn sure.
Peter “climate change” occurs on a daily basis. Yesterday it rained and today the sun came out. The previous name for climate change was global warming. I wonder why they changed it to climate change.
“The people who are supposed to be the experts and who claim to understand the science are precisely the people who are blind to the evidence…I hope that a few of them will make the effort to examine the evidence in detail and see how it contradicts the prevailing dogma, but I know that the majority will remain blind. That to me is the central mystery of climate science. It is not a scientific mystery but a human mystery. How does it happen that the whole generation of scientific experts is blind to obvious facts?” – Freeman Dyson
Actually a lot of scientists disagree with the presumptions made by Al Gore and revised as time passed. Most lay people talking about climate change don’t even know the basic facts.
For a different point of view the video below is informative, simple and frequently humorous. I figured this would be better then providing you a list of studies. It will also sharpen your mind and make you think a bit deeper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXxHfb66ZgM
He deals with the question of whether or not climate change is pseudo science. He will help teach you how to think no matter what conclusion you wish to draw.
Allan, we don’t need to watch a youtube video to decide if Climate Change is real. The rest of the world has moved on with this issue. Trump’s own administration released a very credible and alarming report the day after Thanksgiving.
The only people denying Climate Change are Republicans who accept campaign contributions from the Koch Bros network. The Koch Bros proudly take credit for the doubts they have instilled on Republican voters.
That’s it, Allan, it’s the Koch Bros. End of argument.
“Allan, we don’t need to watch a youtube video to decide if Climate Change is real.”
No peter you do not need to watch a youtube video to understand climate change. You need to do so in order to learn how to think and draw rational conclusions based on fact and evidence. ( I don’t care if you watch the video or not. I am just trying to be helpeful to one that has a low standard when it comes to scientific evidence and proof)
I thought of providing you with real scientific data from credible scientists but to those that believe in pseudoscience credible work on climate change is meaningless. They already have drawn their conclusions. As you say “The rest of the world…”, but they haven’t. That can be seen in the fact that they haven’t lived up to their agreements in the Paris accords yet without agreeing to them the US has done the most. “The rest of the world…” or at least a good portion of the developing world think you are an A$$ helping their economies grow while they pollute where that growth comes from nations that have stupid policies making their people poorer. “The rest of the world…” or at least other parts of the rest of the world also think you are an A$$. Proof? Look at the riots in Paris.
It is amazing how you support the Koch brothers with regard to destroying the American worker and don’t support them when it comes to the pseudoscience of climate change. Calling climate change a pseudoscience doesn’t take sides. It just means the ideas being published and hyped in the mass media is based on pseuodoscience perhaps mixed with real science, but one is not permitted to distinguish the two because of stupid people that can only look at one side of the story and make dumb comments like you do above.
Allan, my cousin happens to be a prominent physicist who attends global summits with world scientists. My cousin told me 11 years ago that Global Warming is real. And he said about 90% of all scientists agreed. That was 11 years ago month when we had that conversation.
“my cousin happens to be a prominent physicist who attends global summits with world scientists. My cousin told me 11 years ago that Global Warming is real.”
You don’t even understand the question. Is global warming real? That is not the issue. The issue is if man made global warming is real? how much? What is its effect, good or bad? If man made global warming is a critical threat is what we are doing adequate? Are there other ideas more effective? Some think we might be enterring a period of global cooling due to natural causes that occur cyclically and have occurred before. If that is the case do we need to warm the planet.
Since you used your cousin as evidence you now have to tell us what his degrees are in including when and where. The exact nature of his work for the past 10 years. That is what happens when you claim expertise.
Maybe your cousin should listen to that video as well.
“PH says: December 11, 2018 at 11:54 PM
Allan, my cousin happens to be a prominent physicist who attends global summits with world scientists. My cousin told me 11 years ago that Global Warming is real. And he said about 90% of all scientists agreed. That was 11 years ago month when we had that conversation. ”
Causation justn’t equal Correlation”
“” Global Warming”” Climate Changin all the Time Crap””
Just because there’s one Dumb Azz in a family doesn’t necessarily mean all of the family is a pack of Dumb Azzes, but it doesn’t mean they’re not when they believe for sure totally false Crap!!
When did the digital thermometer replace the Mercury thermometer?
Were those ole thermometers readings in direct sun or shade?
What about the tales of those ole Ice Core Samples & what did you call me yesterday?, you ….
AKA: your arguments collapsed again.
Seriously, why do you hate what America stands for & if you hate it so bad, instead of promoting killing citizens & cops, why don’t you move out of the USA?
Typo: ”Causation doesn’t equal Correlation”
OK PH, Then there is opening for one of your Dem candidates to attack based on what you believe is Trump’s lack of depth on issues. But this does not seem to be the case as Dems are still having wet dreams about impeachment and continue to fail to develop any real game on real issues.
Bill Martin,
– With the exception of fringe members like Rep. Waters and Rep. Green, I think the Congressional Democrats’ dream scenario is to see the Mueller investigation stretch out well into the campaign season that’ll start next year
And perhaps into 2020.
Unless Mueller produces something that’s devastating and very solid against Trump, I don’t think the Dems will press impeachment.
Despite what Rep. Schiff said in his most recent TV show.
continue to fail to develop any real game on real issues.
The modal type among Democrats – office holders and street-level alike – neither knows nor cares anything about public policy. Issues are merely the filler for Talking Points or they are status markers which delineate in groups and out groups.
“‘Real issues’ like what”
Like increasing the GDP as Trump did or decreasing unemployment at a faster rate than before .Economic issues are quite important even if Peter doesn’t think so.
Climate change, do you even know what that is? Take a look at France and the rioting over the misuse of the words climate change.
Infrastructure: There is some agreement on both sides and though much of that is done by the states agreement is there to be had but the Democrats want impeachment and turmoil when neither makes any sense at all.
Healthcare: The Dems created that problem and have continuously made the problem worse. Their solutions are dreams.
Foreign policy, seldom mentioned has been impaired by the Democrats who don’t seem to understand the threats the US faces. Trump made some good inroads but political gainsmanship by the Democrats have hurt appropriate policy considerations.
Allan, since you know so much about economic issues, then I’m sure you know we are in the late stages of an expansion that began 9 years ago. Almost no economists believe this expansion can last into 2020.
Almost no economists believe this expansion can last into 2020.
Whose forecasts did you consult? The Conference Board reports their index of leading indicators remains in positive territory.
Tell me when an expansion has lasted longer than 9 years.
You didn’t answer my question, Peter Shill. Who is this body of unanimous forecasters?
From 1958 Q1 to 1969 Q3 there were only two quarters where a contraction was registered in regard to the previous quarter, and these two quarters were not adjacent to each other. From 1982 Q4 to 2007 Q4 you had only four quarters wherein a decline in production was registered, of which just two were back-to-back. The Australian economy has had only three down quarters since 1991, none of them adjacent.
You didn’t answer my question. When has a U.S. expansion lasted more than 9 years? And what the hell does Australia have to do with anything?
I answered your question. You don’t understand the answer.
Yeah, you go round and round. Good name for you, whoever you are.
PH,
Right you are since the Commie/Fascist Democrats won the congress the markets are Crashing & Mom & Dad’s 401k is taking a hit…. and then they’ll be around their families in the nest few weeks & they’ll be talking…. Ya, our retirement account was looking good & those Ph’k Commie/Fascist Demos rigged the votes in key areas & stole control of Congress & since then everything went to Hell!
BTW: How’s the pile of Sh*t on the sidewalks & the Dopers Needles out there on the Commie/Cali coast?
Oky1, your paranoid, communist-obsessed comments are an embarrassment to this blog. I suspect Professors Turley’s law students would be horrified if they read your posts. Have some consideration.
Hey dumb bunny PH , hopeful prof Turley’s students were smart enough to catch the commie/fascist authoritarian Demo congress persons at the house hearing today to see them kiss the Azz of Google, the Communist Chinese buddies that help them round people up & kill them….,
It’s your ignorance that’s the embarrassment!!
https://www.newswars.com/alex-jones-roger-stone-invade-google-hearing-to-address-internet-censorship/
Maybe Prof Turley’s students would like hear about your buddies & their history of Commie/Fascist Authoritarian Govt’s Democide & Genocide?
Oh looky there, another 300, were they White, Black,Brown, Yellow, Red or Green?
What color were their eyes?
https://www.wndu.com/content/news/Tiny-remains-found-in-leaky-containers-at-Michigan-cemetery-502494271.html
I know though, I know, they told you that they’d pay you to say Trump Bad everyday & get Whitey.
Check the years on which the economy expanded-when the GDP grew. You’ll find that when the government is under Democratic control the economy grows by a significantly larger percentage than when the Republican Party controls the economy.
The last 3 recessions all occurred when the Republican Party controlled the federal government. Oh, and check which party has been in control when the debt has grown significantly (hint: it’s thd Republican Party). Get your facts straights.
Marco,
I’m glad you bring so few economics facts to the table as it’ll make it easy for me to be brief but also thorough.
First of all the leadership of the Commie Dems & the Neo Fascist GOP the last 50 years have both shown themselves as American Hatin Trash & terrible when it came to the economic benefit of most citizens!
Now, about those Economic Depressions, that’s what they used to call them all before all the twisting BS lingo, Ck the Federal Reserve System & the Illegal Internal Revenue Agency, there’s your Depressions.
But that all starts us down a far deep rabbit hole & I’ve not the time now..
Making economics simple for you, Trump is the proverbial great country song. Joe 6 pack could give to sh*ts about politics, all he knows is he has jobs & if he works hard he can pay his bills, his wife stays with him, he keeps his home, truck, dog & bass boat.
Then he hears the Democrats take over Congress & he loses everything, do you really think he gives a sh*t about your Stats when he’s not getting laid? LOL Good Luck selling that crap Marco, It’s just Micro Economics!! LOL;)
Who?
There is speculation Peter, but that always occurs and some economists are right and the others wrong. Right now the economy is strong and it would be stronger but for people like you who don’t know what they are talking about. You have been consistently wrong so I don’t expect anything you say to mean much of anything.
Allan, if Hillary had the White House I’d be afraid she would be facing a recession in 2020. This isn’t a political argument. It’s just common sense. Expansions don’t last forever.
Peter, if Hillary had the White House we wouldn’t have had the growth we have had so there would be very little reason for a recession to occur except for the fact that we would artificially be flooding the marketplace with cash due to low interest rates and government expenditures something that Trump would like to control but hasn’t had adequate support to do so. We would continue with our trade imbalances and theft of our IP until a time came that we were a second rate nation and our citizens might be emigrating to more oppulent nations. Her great stimulus to the economy might be another war. She supported the Iraq war before she didn’t and she supported the demise of Gaddafi. Between her and Bill they could sell more of our national security to the Chinese and the Russians.
This is a bit more about Hillary from excerpts of Judge Lamberth’s orders:
“In July 2014, six months after Clinton resigned as Secretary of State, Judicial Watch filed this FOIA suit seeking emails from Clinton and her aides concerning the talking points former U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice used to defend the Obama Administration’s response to the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya. … And although it would take more than six months for the public to learn Clinton exclusively used a private email account as Secretary…, department officials already knew Clinton’s emails were missing from its records. …
State played this card close to its chest. In November 2014, State told Judicial Watch it performed a legally adequate search and concluded settlement was appropriate, despite knowing Clinton’s emails were missing and unstarched. … In December 2014–the same day Clinton quietly turned over 55,000 pages of her missing emails–State gave Judicial Watch a draft Vaughn index making no mention of the unsearched records.
***
After another month of radio silence–by then, at least three months after State realized it never searched Clinton’s emails, and two months after Clinton gave the Department 30,490 of the 62,320 emails from her private server (she deleted the rest)–State filed another status report admitting “additional searches for documents potentially responsive to the FOIA must be conducted”…. A month later, Judicial Watch read the New York Times and realized what State was talking about… That story, along with reporting that Clinton’s former Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills and former Deputy Chiefs of Staffs Huma Abedin and Jake Sullivan also used personal email to conduct government business…exposed State’s deceit in this case.
Lefty loon politicians and media do not want to hear sane analysis like Turley presents in this article. It is mad rush for lefty loons to frame nothingburger into sometime by tying bimbo payments and vague inferences to some obscure notion of Dr. Evil Trump-Russia collusion. Lefty loons sense end of Muler witch hunt and return to sanity by American public heading into holidays and they are now desperate to continue to shape the narrative – something which they sense is slipping away from there control. They are losing power of persuasion and dangerous human animals never like to lose control of anything. First Trump breaks through their control to win presidency and now they sense he will prevail and blow past their counter-attack i.e.Trump-Russia fantasy collusion narrative.
Maria Butina might have a few things to say….
Suggestion for a Jonathan Turley overview from 30,000 feet: for many decades, many (not all) American leaders intentionally DIVIDED the American people for self-serving motives instead of choosing to UNITE the American people. This “foundation” that was laid several decades ago gave us Donald Trump. Even if Trump is impeached or resigns, the cancer of a divided and authoritarian-loving voter base still remains. Getting rid of Trump really doesn’t solve the root problem that took decades to create. How do we get Americans to embrace a constitutional rule of law government that UNITES us instead of our foreign style authoritarian government we have today? Trump is really the symptom, not the root cause. Would love for Turley to write about this.
Getting rid of Trump really doesn’t solve the root problem that took decades to create. How do we get Americans to embrace a constitutional rule of law government that UNITES us instead of our foreign style authoritarian government we have today?
Very good question Ashcroft. Politicians will sell what the voters will buy. And given the fact a majority of Americans were willing to vote for a candidate that shat on the rule of law, then we are likely 1 or 2 generations away from from what we need…IF we started some comprehensive civics education today. Who’s going to begin that education plan? Certainly not the politicians who benefit by keeping the electorate ignorant.
Olly, just avoid right-wing media. Then you won’t be so ignorant.
Peter, you’re an ongoing Dunning-Kruger phenomenon.
The fact you suggest the problem is only right-wing media proves my point.
Keeping trying.
Olly,…
Rely on the civics instruction our schools provide.
The teacher who introduced a veteran of “World War Eleven” to an assembly might be one of the instructors, for those schools that still “teach” civics.
Tom,
Comprehensive, not whatever has been concocted by our progressive education system.
Olly,…
I miss the “Jaywalking” that Leno used to do.
Asking questions like “Who does the Washington Monument honor”, etc.
I used to think that he cherry-picked ignoramus subjects, but the people he “quizzed” were probably fairly typical.
We should all be able to pay off our hookers to keep them from yakking. I think JFK paid off Marilyn Monroe. She was quoted as saying that JFK was “a bad roll in the hay.” Had that made the news then he would be in disfavor. Not for having sex but for being bad at it.
Professor Turley writes: “First, while prosecutors reveal additional alleged Russian contacts, and even an offer to create some “campaign political synergy,” there is a conspicuous absence of evidence of an alleged conspiracy or collusion by the campaign”.
Since Robert Mueller has maintained a leak-proof investigation, this might seem the case. But it illustrates that Trump, lacking any political experience, bungled his responses to the Mueller probe. Trump bungled so badly, in fact, that it appears he has no moral compass.
Had Trump had any sense of ethics, Manafort and Cohen would have never been in his orbit. Savvy politicians stick with mainstream choices because mainstream doesn’t ‘bite when it’s dead’. Which I believe is the point Professor Turley aspires to make with his dead bees analogy.
Since Robert Mueller has maintained a leak-proof investigation,
ROTFL
Sorry, no stings. Those dead bees lost their stinger. If Trump’s legal team reads the column, they should feel pretty good about the chance of impeachment. First off, Mueller’s report had better include real evidence that could constitute collusion, or else nobody will even bother to read it. But if it does, an impeachment trial on collusion would need to include an endless parade of FBI people as well as all the attorneys of all of the named Russian nationals who will never appear to testify. But let’s suppose the report has all of the other stuff for impeachment. Foremost, the Stormy Daniels payoff. But that won’t go because the theory that the law applies to the candidate using his own money, not campaign contributions, was rejected by the John Edwards jury, and has been avoided ever since. Good luck with that. Finally, you have the all the times he stepped on the dead bees. But what is the Senate supposed to conclude from that? Without a case for collusion, nobody will buy a plain obstruction of justice crime. After all, why cover up a non-crime? All of the Trump team’s missteps won’t hurt him if Trump can’t be charged with illegal conduct before the election. In short, the report must make a real case for collusion, or it’s a nothing burger.
Igpres, no impeachment, perhaps, but no re-election either. Especially with the economy due for a recession. Republicans might signal to Trump not to seek the nomination. Or the early primaries could signal that message.
Typical mindless left winger rooting for a recession.
Will there be a recession? Maybe, maybe not. Point to anytime in recent history. Will there be a recession? Maybe, maybe maybe not. That is the type of useless logic Peter engages in.
The question of recession always exists and the question of a boom economy always exists as well. What we can see is that the Obama crowd didn’t think we could do better than a 1.5 – 2 GDP and the Trump crowd did. Our GDP under Trump is in the 3’s.
igress
didn’t FOX tell you the difference between collusion and conspiracy? calling it collusion doesn’t diminish the conspiracies that Trump’s family engaged in.
Problem is, igpres and Jon Turley: you don’t know what Mueller has, and it would be foolish to believe that you’ve seen all there is to see. Therefore, you are jumping the gun by assuming anything at this point, much less building an argument based on assuming you know what Mueller has.
Is it true that Turkey has become an official Fox News “contributor”? Does that mean he is on its payroll? That may explain why he has consistently looked for the silver lining in all these ominous revelations in order no doubt to secure this lucrative remuneration. He will live to regret his decision to align himself with the likes of Hannity, Carlson, Pirro, et.al., when unmistakeable, undeniable and irrefutable evidence of Trump corruption is ultimately exposed. Hopefully, he will part ways with these liars and salvage his reputation in the eyes of his academic peers.
While the level of literacy from the left has suddently risen dramatically the subject matter remains ludicrous and silly. These bees have no stingers.
What does exist is a very wide minefield
a. Schumer’s very limited powers die on Jan 3rd with the exit of the RINOs and the entrance of the Independent Constitutional Democrats. Both he and Pelosi can rant and threaten all they want…..all it takes is for a few dozen of them out of 435 to say enough is enough and form their own party. Pelosi goes back to second fiddle and the new party becomes a voter magnet for a very large chunk of the former democrat former progressive socialist former everything party. Not hard to imagine them doing their own deals for enough bacon to make the Chicago markets smile. And with that comes automatic expansion
b. The trick is to get passed what you can get passed in the house of representatives now and then leave the rest until Jan 4th for the senate votes.
c. As for the rest of it it’s an uphill battle be it indictment, impeachment or obstruction for the Socialist Regressives para a. for starters b. the senate vote now stripped of many of it’s former rino support come 2019, the spectre of one vote passage designed to go Veto. and the impossibility of an over ride.
d. Shutdown? BFD 30% layoffs and that doesn’t necessarily mean janitors and park attendents. There is that pesky list of obama political appointees that added up at an average government salary package of $100,000 each could do a lot to balance the budgets if not wipe the imbalance out and simultaneouly destroy a great many a yuge amount of the swamp dwellers. Shut down is now being called a partial shutdown and in reality it’s never been more than a slow down with nothing critical affected.
I’d like to see the price of housing rentals and leases when that herd of dead stingerless bees leaves town.
e. Been getting 1.4 bilion for the wall on average three times now so ask for 5 get 3 or even 4. What’s at stake. A lot of funding for California wild fires recovery for one which effectively puts a garlic smeared stake in Pelosis position. She can’t afford to let it be seen that Trump provided the funding whie the regressives obstructed it’s passage.
f, Back to the Veto or for that matter impeachment AND conviction? 2/3rds majority of both houses of congress? to over ride or convict? LMAO. and then there is investigations up the gazoo from the left which hardly matter since they can’t get a subpoena served as Sessions demonstrated from the regressives slim margin side of things and they can’t stop one getting served in the Senate.
Major losers? The left stream media propagandists who will end up looking more stupid than the ridiculous and silly remnants of the former Democratic Party. still yammering about “Our non existent Democracy” when as the Black Avenger used to say it’s lit up by the bright unbearable light of truth, justice and the American Way.
It’ not just hiring a few who are literate that makes a difference. It’s giving them something worthwhile to say. No evidence of that… so far. BUT the French are still running yard sales on white flags. If you can afford the tariff.
.
Uh, Michael, did you see the editorial by former Senators from both parties, published in yesterday’s Washington Post? You passionate Trumpsters are in for a big shock that’s coming sooner than you think. Americans see Trump for the lying, self-serving colluder that he and his family are. At this point, no one wants to be chief of staff of the circus known as the Trump Administration, run by an orange rodeo clown, because it’s a no-win job. Trump is incompetent and won’t listen to anyone, especially those who know more than he does, so anyone taking the job would just get fired and slandered sooner rather than later. Trump keeps losing ground in poll after poll. Only you people who are Faux News and Limbaugh devotees think that Trump’s problems are due to “left wing” propaganda.
The geezer collection is here:
Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), Richard Bryan (D-Nev.), Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), Max Cleland (D-Ga.), William Cohen (R-Maine), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Al D’Amato (R-N.Y.), John C. Danforth (R-Mo.), Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), David Durenberger (R-Minn.), Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Wyche Fowler (D-Ga.), Bob Graham (D-Fla.), Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Gary Hart (D-Colo.), Bennett Johnston (D-La.), Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Paul Kirk (D-Mass.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), Larry Pressler (R-S.D.), David Pryor (D-Ark.), Don Riegle (D-Mich.), Chuck Robb (D-Va.), Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Jim Sasser (D-Tenn.), Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), John W. Warner (R-Va.), Lowell Weicker (I-Conn.), Tim Wirth (D-Colo.)
5. Ben Nighthorse Campbell was a Democrat who switched parties when the Republicans took control of Congress in 1995. He stayed in Congress another 10 years, then set up a lobbying firm. Hope you enjoy the company of fair-weather friends.
6. John Danforth, Alan Simpson, and Richard Lugar were all exemplars of the Capitol Hill courtesy culture. Lugar’s voting record was roughly starboard, the other two were Collins-Murkowski style temporizers. Lugar’s last act was to attempt to run for re-election at age 80 after having alienated the Indiana Republican Party through inattention; it was discovered during the campaign that he had for 35 years been using as a voting address a house he’d sold in 1977. As for Danforth, his public career was anticipated by the words of another prominent Anglican, C.S. Lewis: ““We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. ” He never had any bravery under fire, and his most recent public act was to argue for homosexual pseudogamy imposed by appellate courts.
7. Chuck Hagel (R – France) was an Obama cabinet secretary who has endorsed some prominent Democrats.
8. John Warner’s last years in Congress were spent undermining both the Republican president and Congressional leadership on crucial issues.
The ‘Republicans’ listed are as follows
Ben Nighthorse Campbell
William Cohen
Alphonse d’Amato
John Danforth
David Durenburger
Chuck Hagel
Richard Lugar
Larry Pressler
Alan Simpson
John Warner
Lowell Weicker
1. Lowell Weicker and Wm. Cohen were liberal Republicans who could never in their lifetimes have been elected anywhere but New England, the BosWash Corridor, the Santa Cruz – Vancouver corridor, and a few little dorps in between. Both have left the Republican Party (in Weicker’s case, 30 years ago) and one (Cohen) was one of Bill Clinton’s cabinet secretaries.
2. David Durenberger was a programmatic and ideological temporizer a la Susan Collins. He’s never been much of a team player. (He was also censured for misconduct during his time in the Senate).
3. Alphonse d’Amato was a compleat hack. He had no ideology. His aim was to stay in office by building relationships with hometown Democrats via pork barrel, and, in staying in office, maximize his opportunities to screw girls. Prior to his time in Congress, he was the chief executive of Hempstead, NY, and enormous suburban municipality in Nassau County. There, he ran a shakedown scheme wherein county employees were required to donate 1% of their salaries to the Nassau County Republican Committee. A mess of people in Nassau County landed under indictment for Joseph Margiotta’s scheme. Somehow, he escaped.
4. Larry Pressler left the Republican Party about five years ago, endorsed the last several Democratic presidential candidates, and singed an amicus brief in favor of appellate courts demanding states institute homosexual pseudogamy because reasons. He was always an odd character (running for president in 1980 to promote alcohol laden gasoline, less than a year after being elected to the Senate; he was 37 years old).
jeffrey
If JT gets appointed to be a federal judge, he’s set for life. just like PJ’s friend.
Why is he suddenly set for life with a job as a Federal Judge? Alan Dershowitz set himself up for life without a federal judgeship. I think Professor Turley has set himself up for life doing what he does, but apparently you believe that the way to success is a government guaranteed job for life without consideration of competency or persnal effort.
It’s possible that Bill McWilliams senses something conspiratorial in JT’s writing; some hidden, secret, motive to advance his plot to gain a position on the federal bench.
JT has been walking a fine line, and at times dipped his foot in so deep that the swamp sucked him in. And when that happens, he has a fall-back…..Ignore current events and switch back to HRC his ole stand by, cause he knows bringing up Hillary will get him 200 posts. Going on “FOX NEWS” only makes his 35% base stronger, but keeps it at 35% and that’s his problem. I would love to see the old JT come back and post what the law means to regular people and what it means to our society.
Turley wrote, “[T]here is a conspicuous absence of evidence of an alleged conspiracy or collusion by the campaign.”
In the first place that’s not true. In the second place, Turley is completely and totally ignoring the sentencing memo on Flynn. The numerous long black magic marker lines redacting words, names, dates, whole sentences and whole paragraphs all have something behind them–namely, evidence. The same thing holds for the numerous redactions in the sentencing memo on Manafort. In the case of the Cohen sentencing memo and the Cohen guilty plea before it, you can read un-redacted, legible evidence of a conspiracy to defraud the United States by member of the Trump Organization, the Trump campaign and Trump associates entering into an agreement to conceal from the FEC, by deceptive or dishonest means, information that the FEC needs to perform its legitimate governmental function of assuring transparency in campaign contributions in federal elections as well as numerous overt acts taken by those conspirators in the furtherance of that conspiracy. Sure, The Russians had nothing whatsoever to do with the hush-money campaign-finance violations. And that’s why SDNY will bring indictments against the Trump Organization and various Trump associates for that particular Conspiracy Against the United States while Mueller and his crew at the SCO continue to pursue their case-in-chief involving the Trump-Russia conspiracy. Time to start imaging the words, names, dates and “evidence” behind those long black magic marker lines in the Flynn and Manafort sentencing memos. Them bees are alive and swarming.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/08/us/politics/trump-mueller-cohen-manafort.html
2 days ago … WASHINGTON — The latest revelations by prosecutors investigating President Trump and his team draw a portrait of a candidate who …
Excerpted from the SDNY sentencing memo on Michael D. Cohen:
With respect to both payments, Cohen acted with the intent to influence the 2016 presidential election. Cohen coordinated his actions with one or more members of the campaign, including through meetings and phone calls, about the fact, nature, and timing of the payments. (PSR ¶ 51). In particular, and as Cohen himself has now admitted, with respect to both payments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1. (PSR ¶¶ 41, 45)
Executives of the Company agreed to reimburse Cohen by adding $130,000 and $50,000, “grossing up” that amount to $360,000 for tax purposes, and adding a $60,000 bonus, such that Cohen would be paid $420,000 in total. Executives of the Company decided to pay the $420,000 in monthly installments of $35,000 over the course of a year. (PSR ¶¶ 52-53). At the instruction of an executive for the Company, Cohen sent monthly invoices to the Company for these $35,000 payments, falsely indicating that the invoices were being sent pursuant to a “retainer agreement.” The Company then falsely accounted for these payments as “legal expenses.”
The “sophisticated means” enhancement is addressed to Cohen’s use of complex means to carry out and disguise his crimes. For example, Cohen created shell companies for his commission of the campaign finance crimes, including one shell entity (Resolution Consultants) for use in the transaction with Woman-1 and another shell entity (Essential Consultants) for use in the transaction with Woman-2. (PSR ¶¶ 43, 47.) Cohen also agreed to structure the reimbursement for his payment to Woman-2 in monthly installments, and to disguise those payments by creating fake invoices that referenced a non-existent “retainer.” (PSR ¶ 54.)
[end excerpt]
In addition to Individual 1 [Trump], Cohen conspired with Keith Davidson, David Pecker [Publisher of The National Inquirer], Dylan Howard [Editor of The National Inquirer] and unnamed executives of The Trump Organization–some of whom may be members of Trump’s family. There’s no reason that The Trump Organization can’t be indicted. It is extremely doubtful that Trump could pardon The Trump Organization even if he desperately wanted to pardon his own company. If Trump fails to win reelection in 2020, the statute of limitations will not have expired. In order to run out the clock on the statute of limitations, Trump must win reelection to a second term of office. Therefore, it is also extremely doubtful that Trump will pardon The Trump Organization even if he could.
Extra wrinkle from the SDNY filing:
11 Cohen was previously the subject of an FEC complaint for making unlawful contributions to Donald Trump’s nascent campaign for the 2012 presidency. The complaint was dismissed for jurisdictional reasons, but it certainly put Cohen on notice of the applicable campaign finance regulations. See In the Matter of Donald J. Trump, Michael Cohen, et al., MUR 6462 (Sept. 18, 2013).
Well, then, there’s your mens rea, for you. Cohen knowingly, willingly violated FECA and used corporate money [The Trump Organizaqtion] to do so. BTW, Roger Stone was also a party to the prior FEC complaint against Cohen and, looky, looky, Don McGahn was the FEC commissioner that got both Cohen and Stone off on a technicality involving the FEC complaint against Cohen and Stone. Do you know that Don McGahn was the legal counsel for the Trump campaign in 2016 and White Counsel for Trump until shortly after Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court this year? Key words in the takeaway: knowingly, willingly.
“The numerous long black magic marker lines redacting words, names, dates, whole sentences and whole paragraphs all have something behind them–namely, evidence.”
*********************
Absence of proof is proof of something? It’s a revelation. Innuendo at its finest. Do you fancy we’re all impressionable children manipulated by what you think might be there? You can’t disprove that the redacted material is a recipe for cherry pie because like the rest of us you just don’t know. Quit making claims of certainty when you have none.
Are you seriously suggesting that the redactions are merely black magic marker lines without anything at all in the way of “evidence” behind them?
I ask, because I never took for the sort of person who relies upon wish fulfillment as exemplified by the expressed notion that “the redacted material is [or might as well be] a recipe for cherry pie.”
P. S. Did you know that there’s no reason that Mueller couldn’t indict The Trump Organization for Conspiracy Against the United States? Sure, a corporation may be a “person,” for the purposes of contract law and torts and the like, but a corporation cannot ever become a sitting President of the United States. Maybe Trump will pardon The Trump Organization. But I doubt it.
Are you seriously suggesting that the redactions are merely black magic marker lines without anything at all in the way of “evidence” behind them?
***************
I am merely stating what I tell annoying defense lawyers all the time: You can’t know what you don’t know. It’s a tautology lost on most people who have preconceived notions about people and their motives. Despite what Frank Sinatra sings, it still isn’t “that old black magic that you weave so well.” Kudos Tom Nash.
Fine then. I don’t know what’s behind the redactions. I only know that there is “something” behind the redactions. And that that “something” most likely pertains to ongoing investigations or to sources and methods of investigating.
P. S. Mueller also filed a separate sealed sentencing memo on Manafort.
L4D:
FWIW, you’re likely correct that Mueller is targeting Trump, but by not notifying POTUS that he’s a target, he’s making a grave error. If he trashed Trump on the word of proven liars, he looks bad. If Mueller trashes him without notifying him, he looks bad. And if he finds nothing, Mueller looks really bad. I bet he writes a scathing report and then turns everything over to those ideologues at the NY State Attorney’s Office for indirect prosecution. Working with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman should make any subordinate an expert in sex scandals.
The current state attorney-general in New York is Letitia James. She’s a fanatic.
Who else would he hire?
https://g.co/kgs/DJ82HB
Mespo,…
Do not engage L4B in any discussion involving the words “black magic”.
All are novices compared to the practitioners of the black arts.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/2006/10/08/5-ways-to-ward-off-evil-spirits/46f30348-98f2-4aef-b7df-495e54bdb27b/?utm_term=.057a3463e83a
I’m pickin’ up good vibrations
She’s giving me excitations (Oom bop bop)
I’m pickin’ up good vibrations (Good vibrations, bop bop)
She’s giving me excitations (Excitations, bop bop)
I’m pickin’ up good vibrations (Good vibrations, bop bop)
She’s giving me excitations (Excitations, bop bop)
I’m pickin’ up good vibrations (Good vibrations, bop bop)
She’s giving me excitations (Exci – tations)
Mespo,..
The Sinatra song about witchcraft was very good, but much too lighthearted, considering what we do battle with almost every morning.😉😊
So the more ominous Donovan song seems more fitting.
“…considering what we do battle with almost every morning.”
You don’t trouble, Tommy.
Profound and articulate as usual, LTA.
Walter Brennen was the drunken sailor, one of the best character actors ever. Confession, I just watched the movie a week ago.
I believe that Mueller has got a lot more info than the good professor realizes. The fascist may be putting the noose around his own neck and stepping off the edge all by himself as Mueller closes the noose. Tick tock, tick tock. Keep GitMo open for those that really belong there, the fascist crime family and their associates.
Sgt. S.,
Walter Brennen’s work was outstanding, especially when he was paired with the right kind of scripts.
I saw him once on a talk show; interesting contrast with the type of characters he usually played.
He was well- dressed, articulate, and his “real” voice was much different than the voice of his characters.
He had a working ranch in rural NE Oregon, not too far (c.100 miles) from where I once lived in SE Washington.
Several years ago I was in the Joseph, Oregon area near the Brennan farm….asked if Brennen’s kids or family still ran the farm.
One couple who knew them said the farm was still in the family, but that Brennen’s “kids” were in their 90s, and not actively running the farm.
https://wallawalladrazanphotos.blogspot.com/2017/02/walter-brennan-movie-and-tv-star-was.html?m=1
( Joe Drazan and others have done a stellar job of archiving/ documenting area history).
Sarge:
“I believe that Mueller has got a lot more info than the good professor realizes.The fascist may be putting ….”
*******************
Pop Quiz on Your Credibility:
On what facts do you believe it?
Do you really believe it or just wish it’s were true?
Define “fascist” and explain how duly elected Trump is one.
“The fascist may be putting the noose around his own neck and stepping off the edge”
Sgt, if Trump were a fascist he would be weaponizing the FBI to release all sorts of information about his enemies and unmask them. He would be using the IRS against them. He would be relying on the MSM to convict people in public based on anonymous evidence. Mueller would be out of a job. The border would have been sealed and anyone attempting to enter illegally would have been unceremoniously thrown out. Trump wouldn’t be waiting for a Supreme Court decision to stop crazy justices from impairing his legitimate Presidential authority.
Sgt, you must be talking about another President or you must not know what a fascist is.
Sergeant, your sabai is showing.
I have to wonder if President Trump fell into the same type of trappings with these ancillary individuals as did President Grant with his cabinet members.
Both men were not involved in professional politics prior to the presidency: Grant a military general officer and Trump a businessman. Both former occupations provided them with associates and human assets that fell at least along a more predictable range and professionalism. The general had his senior officer corps which were of high standard and Trump had his family and the ability to choose people based upon business acumen and merit.
Then when both came to the presidency they faced a talent pool that has a different code of honor and behavior than what they were accustomed and expected. They were in essence unprepared for essentially slimeball politics and the sleezebags this social class often attracts. So they made poor decisions, often based upon false assumptions that these men could be beneficial when they were nothing more than opportunists with unsavory intentions.
Ultimately these presidents suffered and are generally responsible to a degree with the behavior of those in their employ or appointment. It is a lesson that really anybody can take away and apply to their own lives. That is, you often are labeled as the company you keep.
Perhaps Trump had the ability to select people based on “business acumen and merit” yet there is no evidence he did so. His personal lawyer was Michael Cohen, his accountant, Allen Weissberg, has flipped (can’t wait to hear his tales) indicating they had something on him. Donald Jr and Ivanka were able to buy their way out of a fraud case regarding their false marketing of condos, his indictment is soon to come for lying to the FBI. Ivanka ran sweatshops in southeast China. The Trump Organization has ties to the mob. Who in Trump’s professional orbit would you hold forth as a paragon of virtue? Trump indeed is labeled by the company he keeps.
Allen Weissberg, has flipped (can’t wait to hear his tales) indicating they had something on him.
He was given immunity in re Cohen. Cohen pleaded. You’ll be disappointed again.
Darren – I don’t know how much attention you’re paying to the filings. The consensus (even at Fox News) is that SDNY wouldn’t be making such strong statements about “at the direction of” and “Individual – 1” without additional corroboration besides Cohen. Every day I’m less and less dissappointed as more evidence comes forward. I’m further buoyed in the knowledge that Mueller knows much more than the public and Trump’s lawyers who are operating in the dark as well. Even his lawyers have lawyers… and will need them.
Every day I’m less and less dissappointed as more evidence comes forward.
You’re less disappointed because you’re imagining things.
The Southern District is trying an entrepreneurial tactic of attempting to claim a non-disclosure agreement is an unreported campaign contribution, a tactic which failed when a similarly abusive prosecutor tried it contra John Edwards. They’re also contemplating a criminal indictment for a matter which is usually settled with a civil fine, as it was contra the Obama campaign in 2008. For Democrats, these laws exist to harass political enemies like Trump and Dinesh d’Souza, and that’s all.
The head of the SDNY is not a Democrat but a Trump appointee. FEC Violations aren’t typically charged as crimes which is true but when accompanied by perjury and obstruction of justice, it makes sense to me to include the underlying offense to tie them all together. Your argument doesn’t seem to be that these aren’t a bunch of crooks, but they aren’t worse crooks than their predecessors?
The head of the SDNY is not a Democrat but a Trump appointee.
Rosenstein insisted he recuse himself. This is being run by staff put in place by Preet Bahrara.
Amen to that, bro. But don’t pretend that the GOP wouldn’t be just as willing to use this wacko misuse of the law against a democrat. The fact is both parties zealously pass laws that they use to target their political enemies, but do nothing for the American People. Get rid of them!
No, you have to do something quite straightforward and crass if you’re a Democrat, like have a chest freezer full of bribe money in your basement.
President Grant: He did a good job. Historians often ridiculed him. Historians who like FDR are the types who hated Grant. The Trump President is a horse of a different color than any person who has held the office. He can not shut the f— up. The morning tweets are too much. Yet he has done some good things and put some focus on things needing change and remediation. Our allies in NATO are stiffing us. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Trump recognized that. I hope he will cut some defense spending.
The parties are each in transition. Both are a bit lame brain. If Trump leaves office early we will have Pence. We might need a new party.
If Mueller uses the hornet sting strategy, then watch out. They can kill.
Maybe Trump arranged the porn star payments with Cohen, or maybe Cohen acted alone. I have no idea. But to believe the latter and convict Trump, you’d have to believe Cohen, and considering his sleezeball history, you’re not going to get 12 all jurors to believe him.
Kitty – Have you forgotten Trump is on tape discussing the payments and there’s the money trail of the reimbursements and they have the testimony of David Pecker and Dylan Howard at AMI who were given witness immunity and Trump has admitted the payments. I think you can dismiss the concept that Cohen acted alone to pay off the woman Trump slept with.
Do we, in fact, know that Trump slept?
I started to make an unfair remark suggesting after one-minute of exertion, sleep would be all he was good for. In truth, I have no “specific knowledge” (going back to Alberto Gonzales for that term) that he would even last a minute.
Enigma,..
Even if it is established beyond all doubt that Trump had sex with Daniels and/ or MacDougal, Trump might still come after you for pushing the fake news that he “slept”.😉
Tom – This list of people he’s already threatened to come after is so long, if he served two terms he wouldn’t have time for me. The few lawyers he has are relatively busy. Meaning way over their head trying to tread water.
But are you certain he will only serve a maximum of two terms, Enigma?
Have you discarded the Trump/Fascist/ Nazi warnings that pop up here and elsewhere?
Tom – I’m betting he doesn’t finish his first term.
I’ve seen Turley keep repeating, here and on television, that Cohen didn’t give Mueller what he wanted. Mueller was actually quite happy with the amount of information he got from Cohen and said so in his filing. It was the SDNY that didn’t get Cohen to talk about all the avenues they wanted to explore. Something Turley no doubt knows but in his desire to throw the loyalists a bone, chooses to prevaricate.
That Trump has mishandled almost everyone now testifying against him is probably true. Maybe he just mishandles everyone? Then again, maybe they just know he’d have no loyalty to them so why not tell what they know.
One for each instep.
Wear.
Big.
Shoes.
Professor Turley, this is an intriguing contrivance but the bad guys are getting away.
To wit,
The co-conspirators in the most prodigious scandal in American political history, the Obama Coup D’etat in America:
Sessions, Rosenstein, Mueller/Team, Comey, McCabe, Strozk, Page, Kadzic, Yates, Baker, Bruce Ohr, Nellie Ohr, Priestap, Kortan, Campbell, Steele, Simpson, Joseph Mifsud, Stefan “The Walrus” Halper, Kerry, Hillary, Huma, Mills, Brennan, Clapper, Farkas, Power, Lynch, Rice, Jarrett, Obama et al.
George, hallucinating in public will cause people to laugh and point fingers at you.
And it is impolite not to share though that GOP kool aid needs to be made a schedule 1 drug.